In the 116th playing of the Midnight Sun baseball game in Fairbanks, the Alaska Goldpanners defeated the Everett Washington Merchants 3-0 in-front-of a crowd of over 3,000 spectators at Growden Park.
The first pitch opened the game at 10 p.m. Monday and the final out was recorded at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday morning. The game stopped at the half-inning closest to midnight for the singing of the Alaska Flag Song and then completed the game without the use of artificial lighting.
In 2020, the Goldpanners did not play in the game because of COVID (there was no Panners season); the Fairbanks Adult Amateur League kept the tradition alive playing the game on June 21, 2020. They were recognized at last night’s/early morning contest.
According to the history of the Midnight Sun Game, the first game played in 1906 featured the Smokes versus the Drinks. They say a bar bet. Smokes-Drinks? Supposedly the newspaper would not name the teams as they didn’t buy advertising from the newspaper. (Thanks to Bruce Cech in Fairbanks for the details)
